Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. entered into a global collaboration and non-exclusive license agreement with Acumen Pharmaceuticals leveraging Halozyme’s ENHANZE drug delivery technology, a recombinant human hyaluronidase PH20 enzyme (rHuPH20) for rapid subcutaneous drug delivery, for a single target. Acumen intends to explore the potential use of ENHANZE for ACU193, Acumen’s clinical-stage monoclonal antibody (mAb) candidate to target Amyloid-β Oligomers (AβOs) for the treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

The deal marks Halozyme’s thirteenth global collaboration and license partner for its ENHANZE technology. These collaborations cover more than 60 therapeutic targets and include seven commercialized products to date.

Acumen will make an upfront payment to Halozyme and potential future milestone payments related to development progress, regulatory approvals, and sales attainment. Halozyme will also be entitled to royalties on sales of commercialized medicines with the ENHANZE technology.

Acumen reported positive Phase 1 results that demonstrated ACU193 was generally well-tolerated with a compelling overall safety profile, meeting the primary objective of its first-in-human study in both single and multiple doses in early AD. ACU193 has been granted Fast Track designation for the treatment of early AD by the U.S. FDA.

“Our collaboration with Acumen for ENHANZE reinforces our commitment to provide innovative solutions to improve the patient treatment experience, particularly for such a challenging disease in a large patient population,” said Helen Torley, president, and chief executive officer. “We share Acumen’s view that the Alzheimer’s disease treatment paradigm is at a key inflection point with recent and expected approvals paving a new path for treatment. We appreciate the opportunity to enter this market and look forward to supporting the development of ACU193 to emerge as a potential treatment of choice.”